Trust in the Heart of the Cards
by Chibizoo
Summary: Five thousand years ago, the Yami no Games were sealed to banish those who abused its powers. And yet, no one realized the other reason for sealing the Games… the _true_ reason…[Sadistic violence warning]


Author's notes:  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!  
  
Because I felt sorry for all you readers, since reading fanfictioning is such _hard_ work, I decided to write a nice, fluffy escapist fanfiction. Please relax, make yourself comfortable, and let me-  
  
Warnings: ...  
  
********************************************  
  
Five-thousand years ago, and ancient nameless Pharaoh sealed up the Shadow Realm, a Realm of Darkness.  
  
He did this to stop the Yami no Games, games of darkness that people would manipulate and play. He did this to stop the corruption and greed within his kingdom.  
  
But that is only half the story.  
  
. the true reason why the Yami no Games were sealed.  
  
. lies within the _heart_ of it all.  
  
********************************************  
  
Trust in the Heart of the Cards  
  
"Master."  
  
A wane figure flickered ghost-like in front of him. He gaped, eyes wide, pencil clattering noisily onto the ground. It was the Dark Magician.  
  
"Listen to me master. The Pharaoh is in danger."  
  
Yuugi's hand travelled involuntarily to the Millennium Puzzle strapped around his neck. "Who is it? What's going to happen?"  
  
The figure stared helplessly at the boy, eyes pleading. An almost- soundless whisper escaped his throat. "You- you have to stop them."  
  
It suddenly jerked, as if caught by an invisible force. With a last, desperate struggle, the Dark Magician turned towards Yuugi and reached its hands outwards in a futile gesture of reassurance. Every word it uttered was driven by pure will and agony. "O-only you can. only..can."  
  
It disappeared.  
  
*************************************************  
  
Malik laughed at the look of absolute revulsion written on Ryou's features. The platinum-blonde haired Egyptian shook his head. "You're so gullible, Ryou."  
  
A hurt look crossed Ryou's features. "You shouldn't say things like that." He paused. "It sounds like something my Yami would do."  
  
The two of them made their way to Yuugi's house. The smaller boy was planning a party as a Battle City anniversary reunion. Though Ryou had considerately brought chips and soft drinks for the party, Malik had brought only his appetite.  
  
Ryou was the first to reach the door. His fingers pressed the doorbell firmly.  
  
The clear, ringing tone spread across the house before fading away.  
  
Silence.  
  
Ryou looked at Malik, shrugged, and tried again.  
  
Nothing, not even a flicker of doorway lights. Only the upstairs light in the Game Shop was on. Yuugi's room.  
  
After five minutes of incessant waiting, Malik grew impatient. He banged loudly on the door several times, hollering out Yuugi's name.  
  
Ryou was about to try the doorbell for the umpteenth time when he heard Malik's muffled shout of surprise. The blonde Egyptian was staring at his hand, in a mixture of indignation and confusion. He had probably touched something disgusting.  
  
Something wet splattered on Ryou's cheek. The white-haired boy looked upwards, placing his hand palm-up to check for rain. Another droplet fell onto his open palm and another onto his bare neck. He moved to one side, foot squelching noisily in a puddle easily covered by the darkness.  
  
"Ryou?"  
  
The white-haired boy turned around at his name, ignoring his wet shoe. His brow was half-raised in confusion. "Hmmm?"  
  
"Did you cut yourself?"  
  
Something tangy and metallic-tasting dribbled into the corner's of Ryou's open mouth. The raindrop that had splattered on the white-haired boy's cheek had somehow trickled downwards. It tasted like-  
  
Malik hissed sharply and suddenly grabbed Ryou. He pointed directly above where the white-haired boy was standing.  
  
The raindrops fell around Ryou in thick wet smacks.  
  
With trepidation, the white-haired boy looked up.  
  
He thought it was the Kame Game sign swinging in the darkness. The way it swayed heavily, droplets of liquid dribbling off its lengthy surface; it could have easily been mistaken for the Game sign.  
  
Especially when the head of Sorogoku Motou's dripping, hanging, body was missing.  
  
It then occurred to Ryou what the puddle was.  
  
******************************************  
  
With a livid snarl, Yami Bakura wrenched the doorknob open. It was unlocked. The Millennium Ring jangled, producing a half-light of its own; but otherwise, the entire house was covered in darkness, save a vacant glow emitting from upstairs. The ancient Egyptian spirit stormed inside, Malik trailing hesitantly after him.  
  
He stopped suddenly, hazel eyes flashing in momentary confusion. Absently wiping the blood from his hand, he scanned the house. There was no furniture, not even a chair nor a table inside the house. Moonlight gleamed and imprinted square prints on the immaculate wooden flooring from the window, but otherwise, the entire Game Shop was bare. Not even a counter was in sight.  
  
The spirit of the Sennen Ring whirled around, snorting. "Hmph. Probably a clever thief. Must have a sadistic streak too. A pity it wasn't me."  
  
Yami Bakura suddenly found himself staring at a pair of eyes. Gleaming, socketless, doll-crafted eyes.  
  
Eyes, and nothing else. Just a pair of eyes floating eyes, glowing in the darkness.  
  
The Sennen Ring spirit snarled. "Stop playing games Malik." How the other could hide so cleverly in the darkness like an identical shadow was a mystery to spirit.  
  
The eyes twisted, distorted, dented themselves. They were smiling.  
  
Yami Bakura's hand began to jerk. He stared at it in shock as it twitched and convulsed with a life of its own. There was a noisy squelching sound as the flesh of his palm twisted, skin sucking inwards, bulging in boils before splitting into a perfect chasm. There was a hole in the middle of his palm.  
  
A hole framed by a pair of perfect, doll-like lips. The lips smiled.  
  
"But I want to play. All the little duel monsters in the Shadow Realm are waiting to play a game.a Yami no Game."  
  
***************************************  
  
"Bakura!"  
  
Malik whirled around in panic. The moment the blonde-haired Egyptian had stepped into the house after Bakura, the other had disappeared.  
  
He was in a room full of bright colours. The floor was fabricated with pastel blankets, patched up with brilliant purples and pinks. A golden sun shone overhead.  
  
Malik stared and then gawked. What the hell was going on?  
  
"Hi Malik. Do you remember me?"  
  
How it could talk remained a mystery. Its long, amorphous figure pulsated and bulged in its ridiculing humanoid shape. One of its arms was tapered into a dull scythe; the other a useless stub.  
  
"I'm Humanoid Slime. I was in your deck. I was a loyal monster to you."  
  
If the duel monster was indeed loyal, if this setting was so beautiful and harmless, why was Malik shivering? He stared at the monster, eyeing the gleaming scythe on the monster's arm. "Why am I here?"  
  
"I wanted to guide you to the way out, but you have to trust me."  
  
The blonde-Egyptian was not easily fooled. He backed away slightly.  
  
The Humaoid Slime shook its gelatinous head. "Malik. If you don't trust me, you'll never escape. You'll be stuck here forever until _they_ get you. You have to trust me. It's as Yuugi said - he rescued you right? You have to trust in us, the cards, the heart of the cards. Now come, give me your hand."  
  
Muscles tense and ready for any moment of betrayal, Malik slowly extended his trembling hand.  
  
The duel monster clasped onto Malik's with its stubby unscythed arm. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?"  
  
Before Malik could respond, the Humanoid Slime splurged out from its original shape, extending into a puddle of globular, white-bluish substance. It quickly wrapped around the blonde Egyptian, restraining Malik completely.  
  
"Now I can't hack you with my blade." the slime-monster sulked by Malik's ear. "It's alright though. I don't need a blade to rip you apart."  
  
The blonde-haired Egyptian struggled, half-screaming, muscles thrashing as powerfully as possible.  
  
A terrible, excruciating pain, and suddenly, Malik was staring straight at his hand.  
  
His tanned, severed hand, still twitching slightly, hanging limply like a washcloth from the Humanoid Slime's limb. The end of his hand tapered into gaping layers of white bone and soft, pink tissue. Blue and white veins lacerated the flesh, torn crudely so that some protruded longer than others like wet, slimy tubules, writhing with liquid. Liquid spurted, dripped, gushed down from the tan skin, painting it red, covering up the rubbery, tanned fingers.  
  
"Well," the Humnoid Slime breathed, "That's what you get for giving me your hand."  
  
******************************************  
  
The duel monster, a tall, muscular being with flashing crimson eyes stared at him, smiling maliciously.  
  
Yuugi ran. His heartbeats drummed like hellfire in his chest, cold sweat dribbling down his face.  
  
The duel monster snagged the boy easily with one hand, holding Yuugi by his jacket collar. In one of the creature's arms rested a pointed weapon, glowing a malicious green.  
  
Yuugi squirmed and began to scream, hysterical cries rising louder and louder until the noise was all but penetrating the walls. He begged, pleaded for help, salty tears dripping down his chin, beautiful amethyst eyes illuminated with desperation.  
  
The creature suddenly jammed its weapon into the boy's open mouth. It continued to shove the pole-shaped object deeper and deeper into Yuugi's throat, down the thin esophagus, watching in satisfaction as the hard metal caused the boy's flesh to burst like an overfilled balloon.  
  
A balloon overfilled with pumping blood vessels, delicate pink tissues and blood.  
  
Crimson liquid splurged out of the boys open mouth. The boy choked, lungs heaving from instinct, inhaling only his own blood. A substance mixed with vomit and darker maroon gunk flowed freely from his chin in thick, gushing bursts.  
  
The duel monster shoved his weapon deeper, rupturing all the organs; the stomach, intestines. Then, he thrust his weapon outwards, rippling arm muscles cutting easily through the boy's prone flesh. With an abrupt tear, the skin parted, letting the harder metal shove its crude path through it.  
  
Yuugi was staring at the end of the gleaming, emerald-tinted weapon now jutting out of his stomach.  
  
************************************************  
  
He woke up in a flash.  
  
Breathing heavily, Yuugi stared at his surroundings. Just the bed, the desk, and the light in the room still open. His hands immediately felt for his throat and then his stomach. Nothing.  
  
The Millennium Puzzle was missing from the bedstand.  
  
Trying to calm his quavering nerves, the boy stood up and opened the window. A gust of cool air wrapped around him. Droplets of rain fell onto his face.  
  
Yuugi frowned as he looked at the raindrops collected on his windowsill. They looked. red.  
  
The boy dismissed the hue for the weak lighting in his room. A small frown worked on his face. No, he would not fall victim to the deceptive reality of his nightmare. He would not be a victim of his own imagination.  
  
A heavy clunk spread throughout the silence of the room.  
  
Yuugi jerked, muscles tense. Slowly, with great trepidation, he turned his head, quavering eyes trying to pinpoint the source. It couldn't be, it wouldn't be, it-  
  
-Sitting on the boy's table were several pieces of pure gold, geometric in shape. The glowed a pure gold in the light.  
  
The boy stared at them numbly. Someone had disassembled the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle.  
  
But then again, Bandit Keith had done so too, hadn't he?  
  
Yuugi forced a little sigh from his mouth and walked towards the table. He stilled his trembling fingers and reached for the first piece of the puzzle.  
  
A sudden bang.  
  
Yuugi whirled around, heart palpitating. The window had slammed closed.  
  
But that was possible wasn't it? Maybe the window had escaped from its hinges and-  
  
Click.  
  
Yuugi did not have to look at it to recognize the sound of his bedroom door locking.  
  
The boy was all but fleeing the spot. He turned back to the table, ready to grab the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle, when he suddenly stopped. Etched over the table and the pieces of the puzzle was a message. It was scrawled in an untidy gleaming red.  
  
.F.I.N.I.S.H. .I.T.  
  
Was it just his imagination or was the room getting smaller? Hand still clutching a single puzzle piece, the small boy looked around him. A thick, pure crimson liquid was leaking from the corners of the ceilings, sliding along the walls in rivulets. The same substance forced itself from the tiny cracks in the window and door.  
  
Yuugi involuntarily recoiled closer to the table, only to step in a small puddle of the crimson liquid: blood. It was growing larger, collecting from the dribbles falling from the ceiling. A large pool of it was spreading from the corners of his room, rapidly crawling towards the center.  
  
Something caught his eye. It was the lettering on the table, still unspoiled.  
  
Despair overwhelmed the boy but he fought it down. With a desperate, clumsy lunge, he grabbed another piece of the puzzle and began to fit them together, sliding the gold pieces against each other. He tried for another piece and was soon caught in the rapid fervour of finishing the puzzle.  
  
The blood was everywhere, the ceiling completely scarlet. Large, heavy droplets fell from the ceiling like heavy rain, making noisy plunks as they hit the pool of blood below. The liquid was compiling, spurts still spewing out from the gaps in the walls and exits, crimson now collecting at Yuugi's ankles.  
  
Another piece and another piece. Yuugi could feel the warm substance swirling around his waist, painting his hair red, dribbling down his face. He hastily wiped some of the sticky, oozing substance away with his shirt, sleeve collecting a mass of red. He had to finish the Puzzle!  
  
He was almost done now. The liquid gushed at his shoulders, splashing nosily around him, sometimes dripping carelessly into his agape mouth, stinging and salty. The remaining pieces of the puzzle were clenched in one of his fists and both his arms were raised in the air, scrambling to complete the puzzle in the pool of blood.  
  
The thick liquid began to collect fast, gushing waterfalls of it escaping through the cracks. Now, it completely covered Yuugi's mouth, creeping dangerously close to his nose so that the boy inhaled and choked crudely on the liquid. Just one more piece.  
  
He took a deep breath as his face was completely submerged by the teeming blood, desperate shoving his two hands together. The center eye- piece clicked as it joined with the rest of completed Millennium Puzzle.  
  
A sudden, almost dissatisfied squelch ensued as the whole room shuddered. The blood was gone. Not a stain of it remained on Yuugi's hair or clothing.  
  
With an exhausted sigh, Yuugi collapsed onto the ground. He quickly slipped the Millennium Puzzle onto his neck, feeling for his other self's presence. He waited for the calm, reassuring aura-  
  
"-the Pharaoh's not there."  
  
Startled, Yuugi looked up. His eyes widened as his eyes locked on the spectre straight from his nightmare. A tall, dark frame heightened by gleaming muscles. Malevolent maroon eyes. A flashing weapon, tip pointed and crudely sharp, adorned by a single emerald orb.  
  
"Don't cry." The duel monster consoled. "Trust me. Don't I mean anything to you?" The creature strode towards the boy, weapon cradled in one arm. His arm reached for the boy's chin, tilting it upwards.  
  
Yuugi whimpered and tried to look away. His muscles were frozen. He knew how it was going to end. And to think he had been so foolish to escape it, and to think that he had _not_ known.  
  
"You have to trust in the heart of the cards." The _Dark_ Magician said.  
  
It raised its staff, emerald jewel at its tip glowing green in the half- light.  
  
***************************************************  
  
End notes:  
  
Like my pretty fanfic? I was going to do a horror one, since there's practically no horror Yu-gi-oh fanfiction, but then I thought it might make readers squeamish (and you know how much I consider my lovely readers). I mean, wouldn't it be just _awful_ to see one of the characters torn and bleeding? 


End file.
